


Kyungsoo the Friendly (Gay) Ghost

by thisismylastlie



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 11:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15118796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisismylastlie/pseuds/thisismylastlie
Summary: Every love story is a ghost story. Some more than others. {That AU in which Jongin and Kyungsoo spend their afterlives together, haunting their friends and making out in front of people in the subway.}





	Kyungsoo the Friendly (Gay) Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> The "every love story is a ghost story" part is totally taken from a book by the same title. I have not read the book, but I thought it was pretty and thus this fic idea was created. And then it died right after. But thanks to @Zankai_88 over at twitter, I was re-inspired to pick it back up and give it a different spin. I had lots of fun writing this and I hope you have fun reading it! 
> 
> And yes, the title is a sad attempt at referencing Casper the Friendly Ghost. It worked out more or less, I dunno, I'm bad with titles ;_; Please forgive me.

Turns out there are a few perks to dying. Aside from no longer having to worry about your crippling debts and the looming fear of paying your rent on time, there is also a 50/50 chance of becoming a ghost.

Maybe 40/60. 20/80? Kyungsoo’s not actually sure about the exact percentage because there aren't many ghost scholars, but it has to be relatively high because the number of other ghosts he’s ran into is ridiculous. One would think that becoming a ghost would be tons of fun, being able to walk through walls and toss over a vase or two, but nope. Most of Kyungsoo’s time is spent trying to ensure he does not run into another ghost, because that is _not_ a pleasant feeling.

When Kyungsoo first woke up as a ghost, his first thought was, "Nice, I'm not dead," followed by a, "Wait, why am I floating?" The reality of his situation struck when he left his room and found his parents crying in the living room, holding a picture of himself. Kyungsoo tried comforting his family, but every time he reached out to touch them, his hands would go through them. Unsure of what to do, he went back to his room, found out he could pick up a pencil, and wrote a very simple 'I love you all' message on his drawer before leaving. He hoped it would give them some closure. 

He left home quickly after that, feeling uncomfortable lingering around a place filled with sorrow over him. For a while, he wasn't sure where to go. He realized as a ghost, he didn't need to rest or eat. 

Subsequently, Kyungsoo realized that wow he spent a lot of his life sleeping and eating. He had way too much free time as a ghost. At first it was freeing, but after two weeks it became downright boring. He could only play arcade games for free at the arcade and freak out the workers for so long. 

Luck would have it that one of Kyungsoo's favorite artists had a concert in the area not too long after. Kyungsoo's first thought was, 'Damn, if only I had money to buy a ticket,' before he realized he was a dumbass and he could literally just walk right in. Literally. He didn't even take the doors, he just walked straight through the walls.

Kyungsoo found a nice spot towards the front of the stage, because apparently being a ghost doesn't fix your shitty eyesight and there are no such thing as ghost glasses. Honestly, he expected the ghost world to be just a tad bit more fair to him, but he found himself disappointed even in death.

The music brought Kyungsoo back to a simpler, more alive time. Flashbacks to singing these songs at late night karaoke sessions with his best friends, to playing this music on the bus ride to and from school, to showing his parents the music videos and laughing when they shooed him away. If he had a heart, it would ache.

His favorite song came on. Kyungsoo closed, his eyes, smiling and swaying with the music. He sang along, but his voice was drowned out by the audience singing along too. Kyungsoo rarely went to any concerts when he was alive, always too busy and too broke, but he realizes how much he missed out on.

He opened his eyes to watch the artist on stage, but that's when he notices someone dancing to the side of the stage. He's not dressed in the usual attire of the other backup dancers, and his skills outshine that of those around him. Kyungsoo wonders why he's pushed to the back when he can move like that.

At some point, Kyungsoo was openly gaping at the man. If he was alive, Kyungsoo would've looked away right away, casting his eyes downward and biting his lip to keep him from giving into temptation. It was his old practice whenever he came across an attractive man and didn't want to be caught. It would be too much to explain that he was staring because he wanted to run his tongue down the man's body.

Kyungsoo's dead though, so who cares about what other people think? What does he have to lose when the man can't see him? 

But he was wrong.

After two songs of watching the dancer on stage, Kyungsoo feels the non-existent air get knocked out of him when the man's eyes meet his. They both look shocked to make eye contact. Kyungsoo looked behind him to make sure there was no one behind him, but no, no one looking at the dancer at least.

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to word the question on the tip of his tongue, but at that moment, the lights shut off and the fog machine turned on. When everything settled down, the dancer was gone. 

 

 

-

 

 

And that was how Kyungsoo first met his now lover and partner in ghosting, Kim Jongin. 

"My soul left my body the first time I saw you," Jongin coos as he rubs Kyungsoo's cheek.

Kyungsoo smacks his hand away. "Ha ha, very funny. You had no body."

"Exactly. It happened so quickly, you didn't even notice— AH STOP." Jongin squirms out of Kyungsoo's touch, yanking his hand out of his chest. Kyungsoo smirks, patting Jongin's knee before leaning back.

They're sitting in an apartment in downtown Seoul. It's modernly decorated, clean, and most importantly has a dog. Jongin smiles as the puppy runs towards them, leaning down to pet the puppy as softly as he can without letting his hand shift through it. 

"Do you think Junmyeon will be home tonight?"

"Maybe. He wasn't home yesterday though."

"You think he got a girlfriend?"

"Maybe. That, or he fell asleep at work."

"That's more likely."

The irony that Kyungsoo and Jongin actually operated within the same circle of friends but had never met in their actual lives is not lost upon the couple. In fact, it was due to their similar friends that they were able to run into each other time after time.

First it was at the café Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun frequented during their college years. Kyungsoo was sitting at a table, just living out his nostalgia, when Jongin walked in and went straight to the display of cakes. Kyungsoo gaped, recognizing the dancer who disappeared from the show, and exclaimed, "Hey!" Jongin jumped in surprise, turning around and mirroring Kyungsoo's surprise when he saw him. But before Kyungsoo could say anything more, Jongin actually _ran_ out. Hell, you could even say he sprinted as if he was trying to win a competition. 

Next it was at the grocery store. Kyungsoo was there because it was one of the few places open so late at night, and he was getting real tired of watching perverts walk around the park past midnight. He took a seat in the chips aisle and began playing with the merchandise, snickering when a worker would come across him and quickly walk away in fear when they saw the floating labels.  

Jongin was twirling by the dairy aisle, and stopped when he saw Kyungsoo. This time he was the one who approached Kyungsoo.

"Who-who are you?" Jongin asked warily, still on high alert. Which Kyungsoo did not understand at all, because they're already dead, so what more harm could Kyungsoo possibly do?

"Do Kyungsoo. Who are you?"

"K-Kim Jongin. Are you also..."

"A ghost, yes. I thought that was obvious." Kyungsoo gestured to his pale body, amused when Jongin followed the gesture before realizing what he was doing and blushing — ghosts can blush? Kyungsoo had no idea how that was physically possible, but here Jongin was, proving the impossible possible.

"I thought I was the only one."

"What? You've never seen another ghost?" Kyungsoo couldn't believe it. After running into so many ghosts, all of them varying degrees of grumpy, especially compared to this kid, Kyungsoo wished he could be so lucky.

"No. I was... lonely."

"Well, I can keep you company then. I don't have anything better to do."

"R-really?"

Kyungsoo didn't understand why Jongin was looking at him like that, but he ignored it. 

"Yes. Now come sit beside me and help me make these labels spell out funny sentences."

Jongin complied, and ever since, they have been inseparable. 

Now they're in their friend Junmyeon's apartment, waiting for him to finally come home so they can have some fun. Jongin recently had the brilliant idea of checking up on their old friends and seeing how they're doing. Kyungsoo thought it was a cute notion, and he was curious about how his friends were doing too. 

But the first person they visited was Baekhyun. They followed him home from work, happily keeping in step with him the entire time. Kyungsoo noticed the way Baekhyun kept looking over his shoulder warily, but he figured maybe Baekhyun was just trying to be safe. Who knows what kind of creeps would follow him home?

(Spoiler alert: they're the creeps.)

When they get back into the apartment, Kyungsoo thought the speed at which Baekhyun locked the door behind him was interesting. Baekhyun was the guy who constantly forgot to lock the door when they lived together in college. Kyungsoo would come back hours after Baekhyun and find the door unlocked, and Baekhyun fast asleep on the couch. It was a main source of their arguments.

Then Jongin accidentally knocked over the fruit bowl on Baekhyun's table, and everything came together.

Baekhyun jumped and pulled out his keys, screaming, "Who's there?!" Kyungsoo glared at Jongin, who gave him a sheepish shrug and mouthed an apology, before returning to Baekhyun who was actually shaking. 

"Sheesh, he's actually scared," Kyungsoo mused.

"Well, yeah, we did follow him home. I think he felt our presence and it spooked him."

"Oh, that explains everything. I just thought he'd finally became a cautious person."

"Weren't you his best friend? You should know better than me that that's highly unlikely."

"True."

Figuring they should probably let Baekhyun rest after his long day of work, Kyungsoo and Jongin agreed to leave for the sake of Baekhyun's sanity. But that night did give them the perfect idea. After that, they would go from apartment to apartment, 'checking in' on their friends via moving their things and laughing at the confusion/horror on their friend's face. 

Kyungsoo's favorite moment was when they moved Chanyeol's guitar to the bathroom as he was showering, and he screamed so loud his neighbor came pounding at the door asking what was wrong, and Chanyeol answered in a towel, trembling. 

This was all within the first year of their friendship.

Their relationship didn't actually begin until somewhere around the 1.5 year mark. Kyungsoo isn't stupid, but he'll be the first to admit he didn't exactly handle the shift in their relationship dynamics wisely at first.

 

 

-

 

 

"I want to take a vacation," Kyungsoo told Jongin one night as they sat in a grocery store, this time in the produce area because Jongin enjoyed watching the water spray the vegetables every hour. "Maybe visit America finally."

"Sounds fun! I've always wanted to visit California."

Kyungsoo cleared his throat. "I was actually thinking of going alone, if that's okay."

"Oh."

It was selfish of him, but he convinced himself it was for Jongin's sake. Kyungsoo may be gay as heck, but that didn't mean Jongin was. And even if they're already dead, Kyungsoo actually thought that the idea of Jongin hating him and wanting nothing to do with him was worse than a second death. He couldn't risk the only ghost friendship he had.

"I'll be back in like a month or so, promise. We can meet back here or something?" But Jongin wasn't even looking at him at this point.

They stayed in silence for what felt like hours to Kyungsoo, just listening to the occasional announcement come over the intercom. 

Then Jongin asked, "When are you leaving?"

"I don't know, maybe in a few days? I'll let you know before, of course."

"And what am I supposed to do when you're gone?" Oh no, there's that whining lilt in his voice. It always starts with the whining lilt, and then progresses to the— there it was. The pout. Kyungsoo should've known better and kept his eyes forward, but it was at this point that Kyungsoo realized he couldn't deny how often his eyes wandered to Jongin. Even in a world where he could look anywhere he pleased, he always found himself back at Jongin.

"You could visit Sehun or Taemin..."

"I'm tired of them. Sehun doesn't even jump anymore when I drop his manga."

"Take a dance class? I think that really famous instructor is having classes somewhere downtown."

"What's the point if you're not there to watch me?"

Kyungsoo's eyes bulged. "W-What do you mean?"

Jongin was still pouting, but Kyungsoo wasn't even focused on that. No, his eyes were drawn to the longing in Jongin's, a familiar sight he never thought he would see someone look at him with. He could feel heat traveling up his face, and ah that was apparently a blush. Now Kyungsoo understood how Jongin felt that first time they interacted in this very same store.

"I mean I don't want to do anything if you're not around," Jongin said, shifting his body so he's entirely facing Kyungsoo now. He reached out to grab Kyungsoo's hand, flinching when he accidentally slipped and let his hand go through it instead. But he corrected his mistake quickly and without even making a joke.

"Jongin, you better not be setting me up for another bad joke," Kyungsoo warned, the wavering in his voice discrediting his attempt at sounding stern.  

"I'm not," Jongin insisted. He brought Kyungsoo's hand up to his lips, and Kyungsoo swore his body felt like it was on fire. He would have floated away if he didn't have Jongin anchoring him there.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Kyungsoo said, voice barely above a whisper as he tried processing the moment.

"I like you, Kyungsoo. You're my best friend, but I want to be more than that. Date me. We can go out to dinner and pretend to eat those fancy foods you used to like, then we can sneak into as many movies as you want. I'll pretend to walk you back to your apartment. We can do all of it or none of it, whatever you want. I just want to be with you."

It was a scene straight out of Kyungsoo's middle school diary.

But instead of being smooth like twelve-year-old Kyungsoo imagined himself to be, twenty-six-year-old Kyungsoo (or actually twenty-seven? But do ghosts age? Or do they start from new once they die? Whatever, now was not the time for Kyungsoo to be worrying about that) was anything but smooth. He was only able to gape at Jongin the way he did that first time they saw each other.

Seriously, it sucks that ghosts cannot eat or drink, because Kyungsoo really felt like a glass of water would've done him good in this moment.

"Please answer," Jongin finally said, squeezing Kyungsoo's hand. "Or I think I'll die again."

"Yes! Yes to all of that!" Kyungsoo exclaimed, a bit louder than he expected. Not that he had time to dwell on that, because Jongin was embracing him within the next millisecond, not even caring which parts were actually going through Kyungsoo. He was too happy to focus on anything except Kyungsoo's acceptance of his feelings.

True to Jongin's words, they went on their first date at a restaurant Kyungsoo always wanted to try when he was alive but could never save up to afford. They took a seat in the back and pretended to make awkward small talk (although to be honest, Kyungsoo's not sure how much of that was 'pretend') as they looked through the wine list. It may have looked scary if anyone saw them, floating menus and all, but they didn't care.

Their eyes were only on each other.

 

 

-

 

 

That is the story of Kyungsoo and his ghost boyfriend, Jongin. How they met, how they haunted their friends, and most importantly, how they fell in love. If someone had told Kyungsoo before he died that he wouldn't really start living until he was dead, he would laughed and then punched that person for sounding so stupid. And yet it's his truth now.

Kyungsoo used to hide his feelings from the world, afraid of being judged or worse. His dreams of kissing beautiful men stayed dreams, and he was ready to accept that he would likely marry a woman he loved, though never in the way he would like, and have children, buy an overpriced house, and drive a van for the rest of his life, when his life was taken from him.

Now Kyungsoo's dreams are a reality, one even better than he could have imagined. As ghosts, Jongin and Kyungsoo can hold hands as they walk down the street. Kyungsoo doesn't need to worry what people are thinking when he leans over to kiss his boyfriend, because screw what those people think — they're dead. And so is he! It's great.

They still spend their nights in the grocery store (and sometimes in unused hotel rooms, cough). But their days they spend in the most crowded places they can think of, eager to show off their love.

"Hey, no biting," Kyungsoo says, squirming away from his boyfriend's hold for a second to chastise him. "I told you I didn't like that."

"Sorry, sometimes I get overwhelmed," Jongin replies shyly. He leans in again, capturing Kyungsoo's lips hungrily. Kyungsoo smiles into the kiss, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend's neck. 

An announcement for the next stop is called. Around them people are getting ready to file out, grabbing their suitcases and backpacks. Someone beside them shuffles on their feet, and Kyungsoo opens his eyes to watch the discomfort on the person's face. He's not sure if it's from the crowdedness of the subway, or if the stranger can somehow feel their presence.

Either way, Kyungsoo doesn't care. All he cares about is Kim Jongin, his boyfriend. Boyfriend! Boyfriend~

The word sounds so nice in Kyungsoo's mind.

"What're you thinking about?" Jongin asks, pulling away to look at him. His hair is a mess, and somehow he still has bags under his eyes from when he was alive, but Kyungsoo finds it endearing. He flicks at the hair falling over Jongin's eye, smiling when the man leans into the touch.

"You."

"That's gay."

"So are you."

"You got me there."

"Shut up and make out with me more. We have three more stops until we have to get off."

"Do you think Jongdae will run out of his apartment again?"

"Nah, he hasn't done that since you turned on the water in the kitchen when he was watching TV."

"Too bad. I really liked locking the door behind him."

Kyungsoo chuckles and kisses his boyfriend.

"I love you," Kyungsoo says, voice tender.

"I love you too," Jongin beams. "Til death do we part."

"Again, stop with the ghost jokes."

"No promises." 

And that's okay, because the kiss Jongin gives him is full of the only promise Kyungsoo needs from him: the promise of a love to last an entire afterlife. 

**Author's Note:**

> The ending sentence is almost entirely the same as the ending of Point of Intersection aklsjkldjlkasjdkljkdslajlas I'm exposing myself but whatever. Thank you again for reading! I hope you enjoyed this silly, short fic.
> 
> (psst talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lovedontleave) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/lovedontleave))


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